


What Grows From The Ashes

by TheTurtleFromHell



Series: The Big S3 Fix-It [2]
Category: Castlevania (Cartoon), 悪魔城ドラキュラ | Castlevania Series
Genre: Fix-It, Found Family, Gen, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, alucard becomes the cool big brother to those two, everyone is getting healthy coping mechanisms, fuck s3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:49:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23126554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTurtleFromHell/pseuds/TheTurtleFromHell
Summary: Alucard's family tree is gone, forever lost to the cruel flames of the world and by his own hand. Much to his own surprise, he finds that a new one starts to form in the aftermath of it all.
Series: The Big S3 Fix-It [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1657339
Comments: 27
Kudos: 85





	1. Together Now

Life was strange, but routine these days.

They sat at his table, eating his meals and talking about different things and making jokes. They mostly talked in questions, ‘How does the running water work? How does it get hot? How do the lights work? Can you teach us?’

And he taught them. He took the young, bright eyed hunters into his home. Taka was the younger of the two, he learned, just turned nineteen. Sumi, surprisingly, was older than Alucard himself at twenty-three (an entire two years older!), but he wasn’t going to let her know that.

But most surprisingly of all… he loved them. Not as lovers, no, but as something else entirely (though he couldn't say what).

As much as he prepared them for their hunts, he wanted to protect them, to shield them from the cruel world and keep them in the castle … Maybe he was more like his father than he realized?

“Stance wide,” he reminds Taka as they swordfight, “You don’t want to get thrown off balance.”

“I’m trying, but it’s hard you keep making me walk backwards!” he argued, stumbling back, “Like that!”

“You think your opponent is going to make it easier for you? No, they’re going to find your weaknesses.” he said, moving forward and causing the human to fall right on his ass as they clashed swords, “And you’ll be dead.” he emphasizes as he points the blade at his throat.”

Taka stared up at him, throat bobbing as if wanting to say something but unable to.

“It’s tricky,” Alucard admits, offering his hand, “But you’ll learn to move without needing to look where you’re going soon enough."

Taka took it, gasping in surprise as he was pulled onto his feet quicker than he expected to be, “How soon?” he asks.

“Depends, but with your adaptiveness and prowess in battle, I don’t think it will be long.” he smiles.

Taka smiles brightly, practically beaming at the praise.

“If you two are done with the touchy feely stuff,” Sumi says from where she sits on the steps, “Can we please get started on dinner? It’s very impractical for hunters to have empty stomachs.”

“Can’t fight on one, much less train.” Taka agrees, “I’ve heard we fight especially well when we have some roasted chicken.”

“And some of those roasted vegetables you made the other night!” she adds.

“That’s funny, I don’t remember reading any of that in my research,” Alucard chuckles, “But, if you insist.”

Behind him came the shout of a mutual resounding “Yes!!”

* * *

‘Okay, sleep… now! … sleep, now!’

Alucard sighed, flipping over his pillow to the cool side. He shifted his body into about sixty different positions in the last ten minutes, none of which offered comfort.

He crossed his arms across his chest, sighing, “... maybe a coffin would-”

“ _ NOOOO! _ ”

He leapt out of bed and was down the hall towards the wailing in a red flash, slamming open the door to their room.

Taka thrashed in bed as if pinned down by unseen forces, eyes wide but staring at something that wasn’t there. He screamed and sobbed at the top of his lungs, heaving heavy and hard.

“Damn it, Taka, get ahold of yourself!” Sumi yelled, struggling to pin a piece of paper to his nightshirt.

“What the hell is going on!?” he yelled, running to the opposite side. 

When Taka met his eyes, something in him went off, causing him to cream and struggle even more, “ _ NO! NO, GET AWAY FROM ME! STOP, NO MORE! PLEASE! _ ”

Sumi grit her teeth, cursing under her breath, “He’s possessed!” she blurted out, “H-He didn’t want to tell you but I don’t-I don’t know what to do, the blessings the priest gave us aren’t working!”

He looked back to the young man, to the panicked look in his eyes. He’d seen it before…

“He’s not possessed,” he states, “It’s something else entirely.”

“What…?” she looked at him in disbelief, frozen like a deer in the lamplight.

Alucard swallowed, forcing himself to remain calm, “You need to listen and do exactly as I say, alright?”

“What is it? What’s wrong with him!?”

“Just do as I say!” he reiterated, turning back to the distressed man, “Taka, it’s Alucard, do you hear me?”

The man blinked up at him, as if struggling to see clearly through the hazy fog of panic. He swallowed, before nodding.

“Good,” the dhampir breathed, “Sumi is here too.”

Taka looked over to her, tears running down his cheeks, “Su-Sumi…?”

“I’m right here.” she said, grabbing his hand. 

“Listen to me, you need to take deep breaths alright?” Alucard continued, “Deep, slow breaths.”

He swallowed, trembling as he tried to breath best he could.

“There we are,” the dhampir smiled encouragingly, “You’re safe now, you’re with us.”

He looked between them, sighing and going limp as if he were a puppet with its strings cut. Sumi quickly gathered him into her lap, hugging him tightly as he softly sobbed into her shoulder.

“Just remember to breathe if you feel it coming back,” Alucard says, “Though the best thing for you to do now is rest.”

He looked over to him, blinking away tears, “Wha… how did you know what to…?”

“You had a panic attack,” he explains, “A bout of extreme fear and anxiety that overwhelms your mind and body.”

Taka looked conflicted, like he wanted to say something but was too exhausted to. He just sighed, pressing his face into the crook of Sumi’s neck. Alucard reached out, hesitating before rubbing his back. He felt him practically melt from the touch, letting out a soft breath.

“It’s alright…” Alucard whispered as they laid down, staring at the back of his head, “We’re not leaving you, Taka.”


	2. Long Ago

The sun was just barely over the horizon when he awoke. He blinked, confused at the sight of brunette hair in his face before he remembered the night before. Sitting up, he took a second to look over the humans’ sleeping form, how they held tight to each other even in sleep. Their faces were calm, mouths slightly opened and eyelids occasionally fluttering. 

Alucard would never admit it to anybody, but he liked to watch humans sleep. He did it with his mother (who was aware of and okay with the strange habit), and he did it with Trevor and Sypha (he argued with himself that it was his job to watch over them, just to watch for signs of injuries from battles or illness), and now them… he didn’t have a reason for them, so he left, floating across and out the room silently.

He got dressed before heading out into the forest in his now daily hunt for food. There were more mouths to feed, after all.

Some figs and apples plucked for a fruit salad, a few rabbits with their necks snapped before they knew they were even in danger, and a large trout from the river.

He was just finishing up picking some berries when twigs snapped behind him.

“Sumi.” he acknowledges without looking up.

“Alucard.” she says back, leaning against the trunk of an oak. They stand in tense silence, as if waiting for the other to speak first.

“...Taka wanted me to tell you he’s very sorry for last night.” she says.

“He has nothing to apologize for.” Alucard replied, shutting the top of the basket.

“I told him that, but he insisted.” she sighed, folding her arms across her chest, “I think he’s just upset that you saw him like that.”

“Understandable,” he says, “Panic attacks are no fun to go through, much less when there’s an audience.”

She cocks a brow, “Have.. have you had them?”

“As a child I had them often, and I’ve had them... recently as well, soon after killing my father.” he confessed.

“Ah…” she says.

“... what was that paper you were trying to put on him?” he asks, quickly shifting the subject off of himself.

She looked at him for a moment, before pulling pieces of paper from her pocket and handing them over. Alucard looked over them, noting that the writing on them was all in Japanese.

“They are blessings. You put them on the person and chant prayers until the fit passes,” she explains, “We saw several priests in Japan before coming here, they told us that he was possessed. We thought it made sense, that it might be a curse that found its way to us in Cho’s court.”

“It’s an easy conclusion to make.” he says, “When my mother treated cases of this, she found family members performing exorcisms on the patients, trying the best they could to treat their loved ones the only way they knew how.” he pauses, “Which means... this wasn’t the first time?”

“He’s had these fits for as long as I can remember.” she says, rubbing her arm sheepishly, “They come and go, and sometimes he goes so long without one that I think he’s better… but then he’s not.”

Alucard hums in thought, “I’d have to look further into it, but it sounds like a disorder of the mind when it is unable to process trauma.”

He remembered seeing the signs in Trevor, in the substance abuse and withdrawn behavior that had become telltale signs of the disorder he was told of… signs he saw in himself as well.

“How do we cure him?” she asks eagerly. Alucard feels his chest tighten with anguish.

“It’s... treatable.” he says tersely.

Sumi’s disappointment is palpable, heavy in her voice, “But no cure…”

“No cure…” he confirms sadly, “I’m sorry.”

She sits at the river bank, noticeably sagging, “... I told you why we were in Cho’s court, right?”

“Yes,” he nods, “As gifts, right?”

“Right…” she nods back, “I was too young to remember my family, just a baby when I was given to Cho. Taka wasn’t so lucky.”

He looks up at her, “No?” 

“No…” she echoes sadly, “He was five. His grandparents told him they were going on a vacation. Instead they handed him over to the soldiers and never looked back. I can still remember when I first saw him, screaming and begging for them to come back. The look in his eyes haunts me to this day.”

“How awful…” he murmurs, unable to imagine any scenario where his parents would just… give him up willingly.

“He refused to speak to any of us humans, or even join us for meals. When Cho saw how quiet and withdrawn he was she made him her personal pet, fawning over him with trinkets and beautiful robes so she could dress him up and show off how ‘well-behaved’ he was to visiting generals.

“After a few years, she became bored of him and sent him back, but the damage had been done. He lashed out, nobody liked him, no one could even tolerate being around him because he was so nasty.”

“Except you.” Alucard realizes.

“Except me.” she smiles softly, then frowns again, “... even then, he had no choice but to train as a guard in her inner court. Though we always planned to escape, he lived every day in fear that he would be the next one that Cho would do her dance of death with. I had to convince him to come here you know, he was so afraid of falling into the hands of another vampire that he made me promise that we would kill each other if anything went wrong.

“Do you understand now? For Taka to trust you, to even be able to joke and let his guard down is monumental.” her voice lowers dangerously low, “And if you betray that, I will stake you without hesitation.”

He nods understandingly, “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

She smiles at that, brushing a stray hair behind her hair, “Well… I guess we ought to head back.”

“Yes, we should.” he agrees, standing and starting his way up the trail. Sumi trailed close behind, silent for most of the way home.

“... it’s a rather nice day out.” he says, shooting her a small smile.

She glanced over at him and smiled back, “Yes, I suppose it is.”

* * *

Taka was waiting on the castle steps for them. Alucard had expected him to call out, to ask what took them so long and joke about how famished he was. The troubled look in his eyes said otherwise.

He took a deep breath, and blurted out, “I don’t want to be a hunter anymore.”


	3. Fears and Trust

“You WHAT!?” Sumi shouted in disbelief as Alucard nearly dropped the basket, fumbling to prevent the contents from spilling. Taka quickly looks away, avoiding her angry gaze.

“I don’t believe you,” she declares as she grits her teeth, “You’ve worked so hard and so long for this, and now what? You’re just giving up!?”

“It’s not something I want to do!” he argues, “It’s what has to be done!”

“What has to be- What the fuck are you talking about!?”

Alucard knows he should do something, say something like ‘everyone take a deep breath’ or maybe even pull a Sypha and yell ‘quit it, the both of you!’.

Instead he stands frozen in place, watching helplessly as they sling harsh and angry words. 

Finally, Sumi seems to have had enough, “Out of my way!” she said, shoving Taka to the side. He stumbled back, glaring and yelling “Fine!” at her as she stomped off.

Taka scoffed, sitting back down on the stairs and crossing his arms across his laps angrily. His eyes are wet with tears he refuses to let fall, but his warbling lip gives away his feelings.

Alucard sits down by his side, awkwardly coughing, “So… why the sudden change of heart?”

“Because I have to…” he says, voice barely above a whisper.

“That’s not a reason.” he presses, “As your teacher I am not going to let you quit on me without a reason, and as your friend… I’m worried about you.”

Taka looks up at him in silence, before letting out a hollow laugh, “You said it best yourself, they’re going to find our weaknesses and take advantage of it.”

Alucard winced at his own words, rubbing the back of his neck, “That’s, well, that’s not what I-”

“But you were right, I can’t be a liability to you, I can’t-” he sighed, putting a hand to his forehead, “I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you two because I had one of those… panic attacks you called them? And you were hurt, or worse…” he purses his lips, “It’s for the best, really.”

“No, no it’s not,” the dhampir argued, “Holding in all these pains and secrets isn’t going to fix anything.”

“Then what will?” he whimpered, hiding his face in the folds of his arms, “Do you have medicine? Is there a potion or a magic spell that will fix me?”

“You don’t need fixing, Taka.” he said firmly, “Trust me, I know it’s hard but-”

“What do you know?” he snaps, glaring angrily, “You think you can lecture me about keeping secrets when that’s all you do?”

“I don’t keep secrets!” he argued, almost offended.

“Oh yeah?” he scoffed, deepening his voice and adding a mocking tone, “‘I’ll answer those questions about magic when we get to them, guys. I’m not going to explain why, just take my word!’, ‘No, I’m not going to teach you anything with bows and arrows because the sword is obviously superior!’, or even better ‘I’m not going to tell you anything about myself but I’d love to hear all about your lives and personal issues!’

Alucard opened his mouth to argue, until he realized Taka was right. It might not have been his exact words, sure, but when he puts them that way it did make him sound like a secretive, pompous asshole.

“You have no right to tell me anything about secrets Alucard! Not after all the times I’ve been lied to and betrayed!” he continued, tears running down his cheeks, “Maybe you’re just like the rest of them…”

“No, I-!” Alucard paused, then sighed, “You’re… you’re right.”

“Yeah, well-!” Taka stops, “.. wait, what?”

“You’re right.” he repeats, placing the basket down, “I’ve been unfair to you, to both of you. I suppose I didn’t realize it until now, but it’s no excuse. I’m sorry.” he looks into his eyes softly, “I’ll tell you my story, if that is what you need to trust me.”

Taka looked away contemplatively, before sitting back down, “Alright.”

“I was born to Lisa of Lupu and Vlad Dracula Tepes,” he begins, “I had a lovely childhood, filled with love and warmth. My favorite thing to do with my mother was to listen to her read her research to me, and with my father was when he brushed my hair.” he chuckled, unconsciously touching a stand of it, “He didn’t even need a brush, running his claws through my hair was all it took to undo the tangles.”

“But everything came to an end when my mother was accused of witchcraft… she was burned at the stake, and with her any shred of humanity she had instilled in my father. He wasn’t able to live without her, but he was going to drag every human to Hell along with him before he went. That is why I had to kill him in the name of my mother, it was something she never would have wanted…”

“I’m so sorry…” Taka breathed, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Alucard smiled faintly, “It wasn’t all bad. The prophecy to kill my father said I would be met with a hunter and a scholar. We all became quick friends in the short time we knew each other.”

“The dolls.” he gasps in realization, “Those… those were your friends.”

He nods, “One of them once compared me to an icy well, swallowing up any attempt to socialize me like a bottomless pit.”

Taka blinked in surprise, “That’s… harsh.”

He laughed half-heartedly, “Yes, but she was right. I was so angry and bitter at everything that I just… couldn’t handle the thought of being with other people, so I chose to act cold and obnoxious. My only goal was to kill my father to fulfill my mother’s wish, and when it was over I made them leave because I thought if I went with them, I would burden them with all of my troubles.”

“Oh…” he says, shrinking a bit.

“I spent months wallowing in my own depression, making dolls of the friends I wish I had asked to stay, crying myself to sleep on the spot where I killed my father too many times to count. I suffered every single day because I thought I deserved it.” he reached out, gently grabbing Taka’s hand, “Please don’t do what I did, you deserve better than that.”

“You deserve better too.” he said, voice barely above a whisper as he began to cry again, “I’m so sorry, I-I didn’t know…”

“Because I didn’t tell you.” Alucard replied, trying to blink away tears of his own, “At least this is a start, right?”

“Right.” he laughed, pulling the dhampir into a tight hug.

Alucard tensed, unsure of what to do. The last time he had a hug was when his mother bid him farewell, days before her demise.

Shockingly, he found his body responding before his mind, returning the embrace just as tightly. Taka wheezed as the air was squeezed out of him, causing Alucard to quickly let go, “Sorry, forget my own strength sometimes.”

“It’s okay,” the man coughed as he regained his breath, “I should, I need to apologize to Sumi.”

“Right,” he nods, “Preferably before something priceless is destroyed by her wrath.”

* * *

Sumi stares at the book in her hands. She stares because she’s too angry to read after what that idiot said.

How could he do this? After they had spent so long training and fighting, when it was just them against the entire world? After everything she’d done for him, from the moment she offered some of her soup to the little boy everyone hated to the sleepless nights spent trying anything she could think of to stop his fits? After her whole life was spent fighting by his side, the last person she expected to betray her ended up being the one person she never even considered doing so.

She sniffled angrily, wiping away her tears before they could drip onto the centuries old book. What was she even going to do now? Would she even be able to keep doing this without him, would there even be a point?

Two taps from the bedroom door tore her from her thoughts.

“Sumi?” came his quiet voice as he cracked open the door.

Sumi flipped a page roughly, not even looking up to meet his eyes, “What do  _ you _ want?”

“I…” he coughed as he stepped inside the room, as if trying to dislodge the words from his throat, “I’m sorry…”

She stayed silent, partly because she was too angry to give a response, and partly because she was too angry to think of one.

“I was afraid.” he confesses, “I was afraid the next time I’d have one we’d find ourselves in a battle, and either or both of you would get hurt trying to help me. I kept seeing it play out in my mind over and over, and I got so scared that I’d see it happen in real life that I…”

“You tried to push me away.” she finished for him, gritting her teeth.

“Yeah…” he nods.

“I just-, we’re a team goddamn it!” she shouted, slamming her hands on the desk, standing and whirling around to finally look at him, “We’ve spent our whole lives going through Hell and back chasing one goal and one goal only, and to have you just come to me and say you don’t want to do it anymore!? Do you understand how much that hurts after everything we’ve been through!?”

Taka looks away, shame brewing in his stomach, “I… I-”

She charges across the room at him. His eyes widen, hands raised in defense as he braces himself for a punch. He’s met instead with a hug.

“You thick, dumb bastard,” she whimpers, hoping he can’t feel her tears dripping into his shoulder, “I would never in a million years leave your side, much less in a state of sickness.”

“I know that…” he whispers, “That’s why I tried to do it for you…”

“Well, you’re not allowed.” she says, pulling him closer still, “I won’t let you.”

“Thank you,” he says as he presses his face into the crook of her neck, “Thank you for not giving up on me.”

“I’d never dream of it,” she chuckles, “Even when you’re being an idiot, you’re stuck with me.”

“That’s good to know.” he sniffles, clinging to her tightly.

After a few long moments, Sumi broke the silence, “Now that’s that settled, can we go get breakfast? I’m starving.”

* * *

As Alucard finishes off the seared rabbit with a dash of seasoning, he smiles as he hears two sets of footsteps approaching the kitchen.

“The rabbit is almost done,” he casually assures as they step inside, “Feel free to start picking on some fruit while I finish up.”

“Thank you, Alucard.” Sumi smiles, taking the entire bowl and popping a fig in her mouth.

“Hey!” Taka protests, trying to reach for it as she turns her back and holds it out of reach. The two laugh and struggle over it, before the sound of shattering glass and a hissed “SHIT” breaks the fun.

By the time they turn around Alucard is already knelt down and picking up the broken pieces of three soup bowls.

“Here,” Sumi says, putting down the bowl (not failing to notice Taka shamelessly taking it for himself) and walking over.

“Thank you,” the dhampir smiles, watching as he kneels, “Fortunately, there’s enough soup bowls in this castle to outlast my clumsy hands.”

“Fortunately indeed,” she laughs. She picks up one particularly large shard, turning it in her hands as her thoughts turn to her homeland.

“Something wrong?” Alucard asks, noticing her contemplative look.

“Just thinking…” she pauses, staring at the broken pieces in her other hand, “You know, in Japan there is an art known as ‘Kintsugi’, where one repairs broken ceramics with gold lacquer. The philosophy behind it is that the damage is not hidden, but rather to highlight the beauty of repairing it.”

Alucard hums in thought, “I suppose in that sense it's sort of like how I’ve repaired the Hold with electric lights and an elevator that wasn’t originally there. Making something new out of the old and damaged.”

“More than that,” Taka adds from where he sits, munching on a handful of berries, “It’s to show us that being broken is not the end of life, whether for a soup bowl or a person. We can continue on and embrace our flaws and the damage done to us in a way that makes us better than before.”

“That sounds… beautiful.” he smiles, looking down at the shattered pieces, “You know, perhaps I won’t be throwing away these bowls after all. How would you two like to spend the day in the lab seeing if we can make lacquer without disastrous consequences?”

“I highly doubt the ‘without disastrous consequences’ part,” Taka says, “But I’d love to.”

“Me too.” Sumi agrees.

Alucard smiles, setting the pieces aside for later. 

For now, he had a meal that needed enjoying with his friends.


	4. When The Past Is Present

Having been unsuccessful in trying to force himself to sleep at night, Alucard decided to spend his time doing more productive things such as updating his lesson plans.

Magic, like science he felt, could always be simplified enough so that everyone could have a chance at understanding it. After all, if babies could understand the cause-and-effect of gravity by throwing toys off their high chair, then two adults should be able to learn the basics of magic in no time at all.

… at least, that was his theory.

“Maybe if I… no, that won’t do. But what if…” he mumbled over and over to himself as he flipped through pages. He’s so lost in his thoughts that he doesn’ realize the door behind him opened, until a familiar voice called “Alucard?”

“Tak?,” he said in surprise, turning around to face him, “Something wake you up?”

“Couldn’t sleep in the first place.” the man muttered tiredly, sitting on the sofa in the middle of the room.

Alucard blinks, looking at him uncertainly, “Is it… something I can help with?”

Taka shrugs, “I don’t know… I keep thinking about this memory I had, when I was Cho’s pet.”

“Oh…” at that he immediately abandons his work, sitting at Taka’s side, “Do you want to talk about it or something?”

“I don’t know…” he whimpers, holding his head in his hands, “There’s just... so many thoughts and I don’t know if I can untangle them all at once.”

“It’s alright,” he assures, rubbing his back gently, “Take your time.”

Taka looks at him, umber eyes meeting his amber ones. For how long they stay like that, silently looking at one another, neither one knows.

It ends after Taka sighs, “... alright. It began with one of her gatherings...” 

* * *

_ He stared at himself in the mirror silently as Cho’s handmaidens worked around him, dressing him in layers of fine robes and sashes, hair tied up into a tight bun and adorned with a kanzashi kushi bearing butterflies across its bridge. _

_ Behind him the screen door opened, and the maids quickly moved to the side and bowed. _

_ “Today has been so unbearably long…” Cho sighed as she walked across the room, dismissing them with a wave of the hand. _

_ Taka watched as they left the room, heads still bowed as the door shut behind them as if by magic. He looked to Cho, meeting her eyes as she smiled down at him. _

_ “Why, don’t you look adorable Taka-chan?” she chuckled, turning him gently by the shoulders and smoothing out a wrinkle on the top kimono. _

_ “Are we gonna go to another party?” he asked. _

_ “No dear, it’s just a small gathering of friends it all,” she hummed as she brushed a stray hair into place, “But I wanted you to look nice for our guests, so we can show off how pretty you are. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” _

_ “Yes, Cho-sama.” he nods, because why wouldn’t he? Despite it all, Cho cared for him. She loved him and gave him everything he could possibly want and more, and he’d follow her to Hell and back if she commanded it. _

_ She offered her hand and he took it, keeping a calm, well-behaved air about him as they walked _

_ There were other humans, serving food and cups of blood, coming and going as needed.  _

_ The vampires all whispered and giggled among one another. _

_ Cho cleared her throat, gaining their attention at once, “Ladies, I’d like you to meet Taka-chan.” _

_ “How do you do?” he greeted and bowed politely.  _

_ She smiled with the same proudness of someone with a show dog as she sat down with the others, “Would you be so kind as to get us some drinks?” _

_ “Yes, Cho-sama.” he nodded, walking over to the cabinets and grabbing the finest set of teapot he could find. He brought it over to the human in charge of handing out the blood, an elderly man who smiled politely at him as he did so. Taka said nothing to him, instead returning to his master’s side with the desired blood. _

_ “Ah, here he is,” one of the vampiresses said as he filled their cups, “Where are you from, little one?” _

_ “I believe my soldiers told me he was from the Sado province.” Cho says, continuing their conversation about territories or whatever as he went around and filled each up that was held out to him (some more than once).  _

_ He goes to refill the teapot, when suddenly he feels a clawed hand on his shoulder, “Taka-chan, would you like to sing us a song?” Cho asks, as if he had a choice. _

_ Nonetheless he nodded and took his seat on the pillow next to his master. He sang a simple child’s song, nothing fancy, but all the vampiresses stopped their chattering to watch his little performance. He hated the feeling of their red eyes on him, knowing full well that some of them had to be imagining sinking their fangs into his throat while he sang for them. At the same time, he loved the attention, loved the way they looked at him like they wanted to keep him for their own and whispered in agreement about how cute he was and how badly they wanted to pinch his cheeks. He could only imagine how many children met their doom at those same hands, but he didn’t dwell on it. He was lucky enough to be one of the few children to survive their interactions with vampires, let alone multiple crossing with them. _

_ Suddenly came the sound of shattering glass. He yelped in surprise, singing coming to a screeching halt as he turned to see one of the humans, a teen girl, had dropped her plate of goods, blood and food sitting wasted on the floor. _

_ Cho’s smile quickly disappeared along with the calm in her eyes. Taka scooted closer to her and buried his face in her lap, small hands fisting in her kimono as he clung to her. She pet his head, more for her own comfort than his, but he welcomed the affection nonetheless… especially knowing what was coming. _

_ “Ladies,” she growls, voice dangerously low, “I suppose we’ll be having dinner a little earlier than expected.” _

_ Regrettably, he peeked up enough to see the vampires descending on the poor girl as she begged for her life. They knocked her to the ground, tearing off her clothes and biting any place they could get their fangs into. He quickly turned away, but the image was burned into his mind. He tried as hard as he could not to cry, but the sobs tore themselves from his throat, tears soaking the black fabric of his master’s Kimono. _

_ “Oh, you poor thing,” Cho cooed, gently rubbing his back, “There there, the girl got what she deserved. You needn’t get upset, not when you haven’t done anything wrong. Why don’t we go for a walk to calm down, and come back when everything’s settled down?” _

_ In the darkest part of his heart, he agreed with her. If the other humans behaved just as he did, if they did everything right and nothing more they wouldn’t get in trouble either. Still, he was human. Each time he witnessed another brutal killing he felt sick to his stomach, wishing he could do something, anything to prevent it. Alas, he could not, so he simply got better at hiding his tears. _

_ Until one night when he heard a commotion outside his bedroom door, waking him from his sleep. He yawned, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he sat up and looked towards the door. Curious, he crawled towards it, opening it just the slightest so he could see what was going on. _

_ It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light from the hall, but when they did, he wished he had never seen the sight he did. _

_ “... found her on the way back from the capital.” Cho said to her handmaidens. In her arms was a child, about three years old if he had to guess. She wore peasant clothes, clinging to the vampire tightly as she looked around with wide eyes brimmed with tears. _

_ “Prepare the room for her while I go get her cleaned up. “ she commanded them, leaving without another word. The handmaidens walked towards his room, causing him to gasp and run back into bed, tossing the covers over himself. _

_ The door slams open, causing him to flinch and sit up automatically. One of them grabs him and drags him out, and it’s only then he realizes in horror… _

_ He’s being replaced. _

_ He screams at the top of his lungs, “No, stop! Cho-sama, help! Please, help! Cho, please help me!”, kicking and struggling the entire way down to the lower levels. Without saying a word to him, the maid opens the doors to the sleeping quarters and tosses him in, saying “This one stays with you now.” to the confused humans as she shuts him inside. He spends the night sobbing at the door, begging in a quiet, hoarse voice to be let out. _

_ One human eventually approaches him, reaching out to him and gently whispering “Come on, it’s alright now.” _

_ He smacks her hands away and screams “SHUT UP!” _ _   
_ _ Nobody else tries to comfort him the rest of the night. _

_ In the morning, his beautiful embroidered robe is replaced by a more plain one, his breakfasts consist of meat scraps and overcooked rice instead of fine foods. He eats them away from the table in the corner of the room, as far away from everyone else as he could manage despite their efforts to socialize with him. _

_ He hates them. He wishes they would all die, including the little girl who replaced him. He wants to be the only one, the only human there, then Cho would have no choice but to take him back. _

_ When a naive child tries to socialize with him during their training soldiers in her court, he snaps. He tackles the younger kid to the ground, punching and hitting whatever his fists land on. The boy raises a hand to defend himself, and he bites down, latching on with teeth as hard as he can. _

_ The adults quickly separate the two, shoving Taka to the ground while the hurt child is tended to. An older woman glares at him, declaring that the boy had been corrupted by the vampires. _

_ After that they leave him alone, and after that he finds himself regrettably longing for their company. _

_ Even so, he continued to distance himself, perhaps as a self-inflicted punishment. The vampires don’t want him anymore, and the humans certainly don’t want him anymore. He deserved this lonely life, he deserved- _

_ “Hi.” _

_ He turned around in confusion to find a girl, a few years his senior holding an extra bowl of rice she managed to snag and smiling kindly, “I’m Sumi.” _

* * *

“... And she helped me.” Taka says, now laying his head on the dhampirs shoulder, “Even though I was a horrible, rotten child who had wished death upon her and everyone else in the palace.”

“You were just a kid,” Alucard assures, “You didn’t know any better.”

“I know,” he sighs, “But still, every so often those thoughts come back to me and I think… maybe there was a reason my grandparents gifted me to the soldiers. Maybe they saw who I was deep down.”

“Hey, no.” he frowned, wrapping his arms around him, “You’re a wonderful person, who’s passionate and funny and caring, and a million other good things I could list. But it would probably take forever.”

Taka laughs, even if it is just a little laugh, at that.

Alucard continues, “If anything, they’re the ones who are horrible, and rotten for handing their own flesh and blood over to-”

Taka shook his head, “No, don’t say that.”

Alucard blinked in confusion, “What?”

“You don’t know, maybe they had no choice. Maybe they had an entire family to worry about, maybe I had aunts and uncles and parents and lots of siblings and cousins, and they were forced to give up somebody to save the rest, and it just happened to be me.” he sighs, pulling his knees to his chest, “Then it’d be selfish of me to think about only myself, and all of the anger I have towards them would manifest as bad luck or something and hurt everyone they saved with their sacrifice.”

“Even if they had good reason, that doesn’t mean you weren’t hurt.” he argued, “You’re allowed to feel hurt by what happened, you’re allowed to be angry and upset, and not worry about these possible ‘what-ifs’ because in the end it was you who suffered, you were a scared, misguided child, and you shouldn’t feel guilty about how you feel about it. You should be proud of yourself for becoming more than those bitter angry thoughts and everything you accomplished despite them.”

Taka hums in thought, looking rather unsure of it all.

“It may take some time, but until then I assure you, Sumi and I will keep reminding you how wonderful you are until you believe it.”

He smiles up at him, “Thank-” yawn, “Thank you.”

“Any time.” he assures, smiling as the human rests his head on his shoulder.

“I’m just gonna… just gonna shut my eyes for a few minutes…” he trails off as he falls asleep.

Alucard smiled, laying his head atop his. Lesson plans could wait until morning, he decided. 


	5. Opening Up

“Hey, have you seen Alucard?” Taka asked as he walked into the parlor, glancing around the room for any sign of the dhampir.

Sumi looked up from the book she was studying in confusion, “I thought he was with you?”

“Obviously not.” he says as he walks over, sitting across from her.

“Did you check the hold?” she suggests. 

“You want me to search that entire Hold for him?” he asks incredulously.

“Not the whole Hold, stupid.” she throws the book at him, which he catches before it hits his face, “Just stand at the entrance and shout, he has those sensitive ears he’s always bragging about.”

“All the better to hear you with, my dears.” came Alucard’s laughter.

The two humans yelped in surprise and whirled around, Sumi holding a hand to her chest as if to calm her pounding heart, “ _Fucking-_ , Stop sneaking up on us like that!”

“Stop being so easy to sneak up on,” he retorts, sticking out his tongue like the mature man he is as he takes a seat next to Taka, “Anyways, I have something to show you.”

“How exciting.” Taka chuckled, “What is it?”

“This,” he says, placing a small, leatherbound book on the table. Taka moves to Sumi’s side to get a better look as she picks it up.

“What’s this?” Sumi asks, opening it up to the first page. There’s nothing but a bunch of drawings of flora and fauna, along with some sketches of cooked meals for the few first pages, until-

“Wait, is that us?” Taka asked, looking over her shoulder. Sure enough, there were their faces, every detail etched in charcoal, down to Taka’s freckles and Sumi’s small smirk. Taka’s name was above Sumi’s head and vice versa, though crossed out with the correct ones written next to them.

“It’s easier for me to remember people’s names with visuals.” the dhampir shrugs.

“I see…” Sumi hums, “Is it also easier for you to train us when you draw it?” she says, pointing to an illustration of a duel between him and her.

“... maybe.” he says, hoping they don’t notice the embarrassed blush on his cheeks, “You don’t know.”

“These are incredible,” Taka says in amazement, “How long have you been doing this?”

He hums in thought, “As a serious hobby, perhaps... seven years.”

“You could be a famous artist,” Sumi smiled as she looked at a picture of herself weaving a flower crown, “Like, I’m not even joking, rich people would be killing each other to get commissions from you.”

“Yes, commissions from the world famous Adrian Fahrenheit Tepes, son of the late Vlad Dracula Tepes who dabbled in the medium of blood and flesh.” he laughed, “I appreciate the sentiment, but I think I like it more as a hobby than as a living.”

“So…” Taka pauses, “Why are you showing us this?”

“Well, isn’t it what friends do?” he shrugs, “I don’t know, I just thought it’d be nice to share it with you.”

“And we’re grateful you trusted us enough to show us,” Sumi smiled, placing a hand atop of his reassuringly, “Reminds me of when I showed Taka my childhood plans of destroying Cho. Remember that, Taka?”

“Of course, I was so very honored to become involved in your schemes.” he sighed dramatically, throwing himself against her as he jokingly swooned, “Especially after you’d been so very suspicious of me!”

“Wait,” Alucard blinked, “I thought you two had become fast friends?”

“Oh, we did.” Sumi assured, “But I had befriended him thinking he was a spy for Cho. Imagine my disappointment when I realized that he had no knowledge of her strengths and weaknesses that would help me plot her demise.”

“Admit it, you were more than happy to keep me around despite that.” he sing-songed, snickering as she shoved him off.

“Yeah,” she concedes with a smile, “I have to admit, you made a pretty good partner in crime.”

“And I still do.” he proudly proclaims.


	6. Blaze

Alucard stepped into his childhood bedroom. He had been here countless times before, mourning the loss of his parents, unable to do anything but stare at the ring that once symbolized his parent’s love.

But he wasn’t here for that tonight. Instead, he walked across the room to the toy chest, rummaging through it until he finds what he desires.

A kendama, she had called it, a ball and cup toy with the wooden handle and ball beautifully painted with butterflies and flower petals. He had accepted it gleefully as a child, spending the entire day trying to learn tricks to show off to his parents. Now, the toy caused a mix of dark feelings to brew in his stomach.

How many toys had he accepted from the generals? How many gifts had he glay taken from the same hands that were stained with the blood of innocents? How many nights had he got to go to sleep, tired after a long day of playing with these gifts while children such as Taka and Sumi had no such luxury.

His father had to have known of these practices, he had to. Did his mother know too? Was she aware of the type of monsters her husband had brought around their beloved child?

He growled, low and angry.

Perhaps it was time to finally start cleaning out the castle of junk.

* * *

“I found Cho’s room.” he announces over dinner.

Sumi coughs, nearly choking on her food at the unexpected news, “You-”  _ cough _ , “You what?”

“It took a bit of going through my father’s personal entries, but I managed to find the rooms each general was assigned, including hers,” he pauses to take a sip of wine, “I checked it out, it’s pretty intact. All her belongings are there, personal items and battle plans and such. I wanted to know what you’d like to do with it.”

The two humans exchange a look, “What we’d like to do with it?” Taka echoes, “But… why?”

Alucard shrugs, “I don’t know. Maybe I feel guilty my friends and I took your chance for revenge away, and maybe I’d like to remedy that, if you’d let me.”

“You didn’t really have a choice,” he argues, “You had to save the world, and Cho happened to be one of the vampires in your line of fire.”

“Taka’s right,” she says, “If you had waited and tried to find every person wronged by the council, then humanity would have gone extinct.” she stands up, walking to his side and placing her hands on his shoulders, “Besides, it doesn’t really matter how it happened, just the fact that she’s gone is enough for us.”

“Right.” he nods.

Alucard looked between them, smiling and wiping at tears that threatened to fall, “You two are more understanding than I could ever ask for.”

“That being said,” Taka said, smiling mischievously, “I think I’m in the mood for a bonfire tonight.”

“Same here.” Sumi agreed eagerly.

The dhampir snorted, “Well, what are we waiting for? I say we have ourselves a good time.”

* * *

They were having fun with it before the fire was even started. Countless fine trinkets and clothes lied on the ground, the once proud items now awaiting their doom at the hands of the unhinged young adults.

Kimonos were used in makeshift games of tug of war, pulled and tugged on until they tore at the seams, after which they were mercilessly shredded with claws (as well as scissors, for those who didn’t have claws). Combs, hair picks, and jewelry were thrown violently against the ground and stomped on until shattered into tiny bits.

After gathering everything into a large pile, they set a fire and cheered as the flames reached for the moon and consumed all that was tossed into it, fueled by various chemicals from his parent’s labs (his parents were surely shaking their heads at him from the afterlife at the careless waste of their supplies).

“This is for Kona!” Sumi screamed as she threw bottle after bottle of fine perfume into the blaze, “And Ren! And Eito! And Hisato! And-!”

“For Hikaru! And Koji! And Mao!” Taka joined in, throwing a large, elegant robe into the flames.

Alucard took a step back, watching in silent contemplation as name after name was called out. When the humans ran out of things to throw, they began throwing anything they could get their hands on. Leaves, sticks, even handfuls of dirt. Eventually, their screams for justice were replaced with sobs, whether because they had run out of people to avenge or they just became too overwhelmed to continue he didn’t know.

Taka fell to his knees, hands on both sides of his head and pulling on his hair as he screamed, wails of anguish tearing free from somewhere deep inside his soul. Sumi held herself as she choked on ugly sobs, hands clutching at her nightshirt and threatening to rip the fabric of the sleeves. Something in them snapped, and they both leapt into the others arms, crying into the others shoulders and holding on like they were never going to let go.

Alucard stood at a distance, uncertain of what to do. This felt personal, like he had no right to be there and witness the toll that years of captivity had done to them.

At the same time, he understood they needed him there. Though he may never understand the scope of their suffering, if he could ease just a fraction of it then it would be enough. Wasn’t that why he befriended them?

So he walked to them, rubbing his arm sheepishly as he tried to think of how to approach the matter. He looked into the fire as if he'd find his answer in there, then awkwardly placed a hand on Taka’s back. He shuddered under his touch, but seemed to welcome it all the same.

They stayed like that until the last flame died down.

* * *

“Well,” Sumi sighs, staring at the remains of the ashes the three sit next to, “That was fun.”

Taka hums in agreement, arms behind his head as he lays on the cool grass.

“... would either of you judge me if I peed on the ashes?”

“Nope.”

“Nah, go ahead.”

“I mean, I wasn’t actually going to,” she cleared her throat, “Just wondering.”

“Of course.” Alucard says. Another moment of silence follows.

“Alucard?” Taka says as he sits up, leaning on his elbows, “Thank you for this. We… I needed this.”

“Yeah,” she agrees, “It was, what’s the word? Cathartic, to say the least.”

Alucard smiled softly at them, “Anything for you two.”

And they sat there watching the last of the embers fly into the sky, the crickets chirping and the wolves howling in the distance as if to join in their small victory.


	7. Call for Help

“Hold it, hold it…” Alucard said, watching the small flame in Taka’s hands tentatively. The human swallowed, his mind yelling ‘what the hell are you thinking!? You’re gonna burn your hands!!’ despite the lack of burning sensation.

Carefully, he carried the flame into the wood stove, trying to rest it on the wooden logs (which was hard to do when you weren’t holding a solid object). The flame took to the fuel and spread, flames licking at but never burning his skin. He let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding, and at that Sumi began to clap loudly behind him, “Well done!”

“Yes, congratulations. You’ve mastered the basics of magic.” he smiled proudly, heart swelling with pride for his pupils. The two humans squealed and cheered with joy, hugging and spinning in circles until they began to stumble. Alucard laughed, watching as they celebrated for a little while before they broke apart.

“So what comes next?” Sumi asks, eager to take on the next task.

“Well, that depends.” he answers.

“On what?” Taka presses.

"You’ve already got a hold on the basics of magic, everything that comes after is built on ” he says, “But you have to know what you want to build first.”

Taka and Sumi exchanged a look of uncertainty.

“We… just sort of thought we’d be learning all of the magic.” she shrugs helplessly.

Alucard couldn’t help but laugh a little at the boldness of such a task, “Well, it’s nice that you’re such eager students, but to attempt such a feat would take more time and energy than you two have. Not even my father could master every type of magic, that’s why he had others who worked for him do what he could not.”

“Oh…” they say dejectedly.

“But there’s a wide range of things you can choose from,” Alucard says as an attempt at encouragement, “You could do elemental magic, or maybe something advanced like shapeshifting or healing, perhaps even-”

Suddenly Taka gasped, eyes lighting up as if one of the electric bulbs in the Hold went off in his head, “What about archery magic!?”

Alucard blinked, taken aback by the outburst, “Um… you mean like, enchanting arrows?”

“No, not like that,” Taka says, struggling to find the words to explain it, “Alright, arrows run out eventually because they’re made of materials, right? And it’s not easy to make them on the spot, right?”

“Right…” Alucard arches a brow, confused as to where this is going.

“Well, what if you had arrows that weren’t made from materials?” he poses.

The dhampir blinks, then gasps in realization, “You mean like using magic?”

“Right!” he nods, “There could be arrows made from ice and fire-”

“And lightening!” Sumi adds eagerly, “It’s genius!”

“I would have to make a bow capable of handling such extreme conditions, probably enchant it as well so that it would channel these energies and take some of the strain off your own body.” Alucard explains, “My friend Sypha would know more than me, but from what I know it sounds doable!”

“Could we do something similar with a sword?” Sumi asks, “What if we made just the hilt, and then the blade could be any element I can summon!”

“Well, I’d still have a blade in case of anything,” he hums in thought, “I’d have to draw up some plans for such weapons, and go through the libraries in the castle and the Hold to gather whatever notes they have on creating enchanted weapons, perhaps contact some magicians and ask what their thoughts are on the matter. Not to mention the supplies, and forging and-”

“That’s nice, but why don’t we put this on hold?” Taka said, “You promised us a celebratory pies if we lit the ovens.”

“Fair enough.” he sighed, “I am a man true to my word.”

* * *

The sound of tinkling glass caught Alucard’s attention.

Confused, he looked up from his book, wondering what Taka and Sumi were doing up so late at night. He was further confused when he heard two sets of snores coming from the other room, a sign neither of them was behind the noise.

Sword in hand, he crept carefully down the hall, body tense and ready for action.

He came across a room, destroyed in the battle between him and his father. A suitcase on the floor rattled and shook ominously.

He considered skewing it with his sword first to make sure there was no threat, but didn’t for fear he would kill a harmless rodent that had gotten trapped inside.

Carefully, he knelt by its side, clicking open the locks and flipping open the lid. Instead of a mouse, shards of mirror floated gently in front of him. He watched, baffled as they came together, then a familiar voice called, “Alucard? Alucard, can you hear me?”

“Sypha?” he gasped, eyes brimming with tears as her face came into focus.

“Alucard! Thank goodness it worked!” she beamed (dear God, how he missed her smile), “Listen, there’s not much time. We’re in a town called Lindenfield with your father’s former forgemasters-”

“The forgemasters!?”

“Yes, but they’re on our side now so don’t worry.” she said, pushing the matter aside, “Something bad is going on here, and we need your help to take care of it before it gets out of control.”

He sputtered, “I don’t, how? Why-?”

“Alucard,” she pleaded, “Just promise me you’ll rush over here.”

“I’m coming,” he said without hesitation, “But I’ll be bringing my new friends along.”

“Oh, new friends?” she smiled brightly, “I can’t wait to meet them!”

“I’ll see you soon, Sypha.” he promised with a smile, watching as the shards fell apart and tucked themselves away.

“Alucard?” came Sumi’s tired voice, “What’s going on? Whose voice was that?”

He stood and turned to face the two humans, swallowing past the lump in his throat, “Looks like we’re taking a field trip, students.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phase 2, complete.  
> Final phase, commencing >:3


End file.
